My love for pen and paper and the written word goes back to my childhood. My mom denies this story, but one summer she bribed me to spend a week away from home with a lined writing tablet. And my favorite ever Christmas present? An entire box of various sizes and types of paper. I still hoard pens and paper but now do most of my writing on a laptop. It doesn't have the same tactile pleasure as ink coursing over paper, but it's a whole lot easier to handle edits and revisions! Writing isn't a part of my life - it is my life. I work as a reporter and freelance journalist. In my off hours, I write contemporary romance stories. When I'm not working on journalism or fiction, I'm thinking about ideas, angles, characters, plots, scenes and black moments. There's no escaping the madness! I recognize there is an entirely separate world outside my imagination, a universe inhabited by my husband (an amazingly supportive and tolerant man), my four sons (Mick, Roman, Cole, Rhys), and an incredible circle of friends and family. My favorite excuse for not writing is volunteering in my RWA chapter. I belong to bicoastal chapters, one in San Diego -- where I currently live and work -- and Jacksonville, Fla., plus four online chapters. I am the newsletter coordinator for two chapters and am the 2008 President of RWA-San Diego for 2008.